Critical Praise
"This utterly delightful first-person account of American au-pair Melissa's time spent amongst the aristocracy has the charm of a latter-day 'Love in a Cold Climate'. . .with gentle wit and acute perception. . .Melissa recounts the everyday eccentricities of an upper-class family whilst weaving the story of her own romances: with England, with food and, particularly, with an Englishman."
——Hello, London
"A character we're prepared to stick with."
——The Times, London
"[W]ell written, insightful and amusing. . .definitely deserves a place in your holiday bag. (4 stars)"
——Heat magazine, London
"The reader chuckles knowingly as Melissa struggles with the idiosyncracies of British life."
——The Guardian, London
"More than just another romantic comedy, this is the story of a sassy American who cancels her wedding to the safest man ever, in favour of heading for the UK to work as an au pair–a move she soon begins to regret."
——OK Magazine, UK
"What a pleasure to discover these charmingly complex characters--a displaced American braving the chill of the British Isles and a glacially inconsiderate employer/mom who could have sprung from Dickens. Marjorie Leet Ford's novel is rich, sweet, funny, intelligent, and utterly satisfying."
——Elinor Lipman
"A romantic comedy with a biting literary edge"
——Books Magazine, London
"In the most charming, gleeful way, a work of comparative anthropology."
——The Observer, London
"Beguiling. . .wryly details the great divide between Brits and Americans. . .a sweet charmer."
——Kirkus Reviews
"Brings to life a charming character suffering from culture shock."
——NY Daily News
"Her eye is as deadly as her nature is forbearing; her dissection of the goings on in those cold castles and manors is so funny you can't help but wonder if the real-life people will dare read it, and we as readers are just lucky the put-upon au pair girl didn't walk out."
——Diane Johnson
"Majorie Leet Ford had written a touching, gentle account of life amongst those peculiar people who seem to flourish in Britain's unlikely corners. This is a refreshing work, rich in the sort of social observation which lifts a book from the realm of light fiction into something much more satisfying."
——Alexander McCall Smith
